To find a physician or for questions 903-676-1000

Digestive Diseases

The recently expanded gastrointestinal (GI) lab at UT Health Athens can accommodate more patients with less wait time than ever before. Our GI lab is accredited by The Joint Commission and participates in the GI Quality Improvement Consortium.

Gastroenterology is the study of your digestive system, which includes the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, gallbladder, liver, small intestine, colon and rectum. In some cases, such as colonoscopy, it involves standard health screenings. We treat a variety of conditions, including:

achalasia, dysphasia and other swallowing disorders

Barrett’s esophagus

constipation or diarrhea

Crohn’s disease and colitis

colon cancer

colon polyps

esophageal cancer

gallbladder and biliary tract disease

gastroesophageal reflux (heartburn)

hepatitis and liver diseases

irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

pancreatitis

pancreatic cancer

peptic ulcer disease

rectal bleeding

To learn more about the UT Health Athens GI lab, please call 903-676-1013.

The importance of a colonoscopy

Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer in the U.S. and the second most common cause of cancer death. Most colon cancers are preventable since precancerous polyps can be found and removed at the time of colonoscopy. It is recommended that you have colonoscopy colon cancer screening at age 50 or earlier if you have a family history of the disease.

A colonoscopy is the best way to detect colorectal cancer, which is the third most common form of cancer in the U.S. Most often found in people age 50 and older, the disease affects men and women equally and usually presents no symptoms in its earliest stages. Colonoscopy screening is crucial because when found early, colorectal cancer is highly treatable.